Yen sags in Asia on North Korea missile launch

On Wednesday, the Japanese yen declined in Asia, with a new ballistic missile launch by North Korea contributing to worries that the isolated regime might again test its nuclear weapon.

The currency pair USD/JPY hit 111.66, sliding 0.16%, AUD/USD reached 0.7594, decreasing 0.01%. At the same time GBP/USD edged up 0.09% being worth 1.3357 following reports that the UK was near a deal with the European Union on the final cost of Brexit.

North Korea dared to fire its ballistic missile from an area close to Pyongyang early on Wednesday, as South Korea’s military informed. Additionally, the Japanese government told the missile fell in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Japan’s retail sales for October went down 0.2% as anticipated on year.

Evaluating the greenback’s strength against a basket of six key currencies, the US dollar index rallied 0.01% being worth 93.21.

Overnight, the US currency gained versus a basket of crucial currencies on mostly positive economic data.